Electric terminal receptacle



1948. E. E. SUTHERLAND ELECTRIC TERMINAL RECEPTACLE Filed Sept. 30, 1943 "FIG. 2.

- WITNESSES:

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' which is disposed in the oven..

Patented Nov. 2, 1948 orrics ELEcTR-ic TERMINAL RECEBTACLE:

Ernest E.Sutherland, Mansfield Ohio, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 30, 1943, Serial No. 504,371

particularly' to: a terminal receptacle for electric range: heating elements and the. like, and it has for an. object to provide an improved device ot the character. set forth. Itis another object of the invention to provide an: improved terminal receptacle having springbiased: contact-carrying members in which the springs may'bie readilyreplac'ed. or repaired;

It is also an" object of: the invention to provide 1,; an; improved. terminalsreceptacle in which the contacts may berea'dily replaced or repaired.

These and; other objects are effected by the invention as will be apparent; from thefollowing description and; claims taken in. connection with. the. accompanying drawingsgfforming a; part of this application, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational: View: of an electric range in. which the" invention. has: been incorporated, the central. portion of: theirange being.

broken away along substantially the vertical. center' of the range oven,"

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line II-II of Fig; 1- and showing the terminal receptacle, in plan; r

While not limited thereto, the terminal receptacle of. the present invention. is particularly adapted for usewith the removable oven heating elements of electric ranges as shown in Fig. l of the drawings. generally indicated I l], may be of conventional construction including a body H and a cooking platform I 2 having the usual surface cooking units l3. The body H is provided with a heatinsulated oven l4 accessible by means of a door l5.

The oven is heated by means of upper and lower electric heating elements It and I1, respectively. The heating elements may be of any suitable construction and-slidably supported on the top and bottom walls of the oven so that they may be readily removed for repair and to facilitate cleaning of the elements and of the oven. The heating elements It and I1 differ from conventional oven elements in that their terminal .rods l8 are preferably provided with electrical contacts l9 which engage cooperating contacts of a terminal receptacle 2| for connecting the heating elements in electrical energizing circuits when inserted in the range oven,

The range shown in Fig. 1, and

5- Claims. (01; Lise-s32) Both terminal receptacles 2| are identical and a description of one will suffice. Each receptacle comprises a block 22 of insulating. material having a flange 23 formed integrally therewith. The forward end 24' of the block is-received in an. opening; 25* in the rear wall 26 of the oven andlt'he block. is secured to; this wall by means of bolts 21: which extend through openings provided, inthe rear oven walland openings provided in the. flange 23, as shown in Fig. 2. l

In the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated, the heating elements each have three terminal rods lt' and contacts l9 adapted to engage the three contacts 20-. mounted. in. the-terminal. receptacle zlr Each contact 20 is carried on: an L.-shapedbar 3| which is slidable in a. hole 32 extending. longitudinally through the block. The forward endlof the hole 32 is enl-argedi, asin- 1 dicated at 33, to receive the upwardly turned end i. of therbar 3| and the terminal rod [8 and its conof a. screw 35; An opening 36 extending. normal to and communicating with the: hole 3-2 provides 3 access to the-screw35. The fiatrear walliil of the 3 opening 36- serves as an abutment for the spring 34,.sotthat the spring biases the contact-bar 3t to the right, as viewed in Fig. 3, and permits the con-tact? bar to yieldingly resist displacement by the terminal rod--18 as it is inserted theter-.

minal receptacle, insuring adequate contact pressure between the contacts: t9 and 20. y

A terminal strap 38-, secured by means ot the screw 35- to' the contact bar 3t, extends; through the hole 32 to the rear of. the block 22. This strap is provided with a screw 39 for clamping an electrical supply conductor M, as shown in Fig. 1, to the terminal straps.

It will be noted that the terminal block projects through an opening 42 provided in a rear panel 43 of the range body, and that the vertical opening 36 in the block and the screw 35 and spring 34 therein are accessible atthe rear of this panel 43. By virtue of this arrangement, it is possible to repair or replace the spring 34 by merely removing the screw 35 without in any way disturbing the connection of the supply conductors 4| or the terminal block itself. This arrangement also permits the contact bar 3| to be replaced, inthe event that its contact 20 is damaged, without the necessity of disconnecting the supply conductors merely removing the screw 35 and lifting the spring 34 upwardly through the opening 36 and form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims,

What is claimed is: 1. A terminal receptacle for use with an electric heater or the like comprising a block of insulating material having an opening extend ng therethrough, said block having a second opening therein disposed at an angle to and communieating with the first-mentioned opening, a contact-carrying bar received in the first-mentioned opening and movable longitudinally therein, and a spring member secured to said bar and received in the second-mentioned opening, said spring member engaging a wall of the second-mentioned opening and biasing said bar in one direction whereby said bar may be moved in the opposite direction against the bias of said spring member to provide suitable contact pressure between the contact carried by said bar and a terminal inserted in the receptacle. 2. A terminal receptacle comprising a block of insulating material having an opening therethrough, a rigid conductor slidably received in said opening, a contact carried by said conductor in a position to be engaged by a terminal inserted in said receptacle, a spring member engaging said block and biasing said conductor in a direction to resist movement of said conductor by said terminal on insertion of the latter into the receptacle to provide suitable contat pressure between the terminal and said contact, said spring member being detachably secured to said conductor by means accessible from the exterior of the block.

3. A terminal receptacle comprising a block of insulating material having a recess therein, a rigid conductor slidably received in said recess, an electrical'contact carried by said conductor in a position to be engaged by a terminal of a heating element or the like, a terminal strap detachably secured to said conductor, a spring member detachably secured to said conductor and biasing said conductor in a direction to yieldingly resist movement by a terminal moved into engagement with said contact to provide suitable contact pressure between the terminal and said contact, and common securing means for securing said spring and said terminal strap to said conductor. 4. A terminal receptacle comprising a block of insulating material having a recess therein, a rigid conductor slidably received in said recess, an electrical contact carried by said conductor in a position to be engaged by a terminal of a heatmg element or the like, a terminal strap detachably secured to said conductor, a spring member detachably secured to said conductor and biasing said conductor in a direction to yieldingly resist movement by a terminal moved into engagement with said contact to provide suitable contact pressure between the terminal and said contact, and common securing means for securmg said spring and said terminal strap to said conductor, said block having an opening therein providing access to said common securing means. 5 A terminal receptacle comprising a block of insulating material having an opening therethrough, a rigid conductor slidably received in said opening, a contact carried by said conductor adJacent one end of said opening, and a spring member detachably secured to said conductor adiacent the other end of said opening, said spring member engaging said block to bias said conductor in a direction to yieldingly resist movement by a terminal moved into engagement with said contact to provide suitable pressure between the terminal and said contact, said contact and said conductor being removable from said opening at said one end, and said spring member being accessible from said other end of said opening.

ERNEST E. SUTHERLAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the file of this patent: I

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date,

1,526,818 I Allen Feb. 17, 1925 1,533,270 Reid Apr. 14, 1925 1,784,201 Pickup Dec. 9, 1930 I FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 35,220 Netherlands Apr. 15, 1935 215,494 Switzerland Sept. 16, 1941 

